1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electrical contact, more particularly to a spring-loaded electrical contact that has a stable construction suitable for low-cost fabrication.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a conventional spring-loaded electrical contact 1, such as a battery contact, is shown to include a housing 11, a conductive terminal 12 and a coiled spring 13.
The housing 11, which is made of metal, has a bottom wall 111 to be soldered onto a circuit board (not shown), and a surrounding wall 112 extending upwardly from a periphery of the bottom wall 111. The bottom wall 111 and the surrounding wall 112 confine a receiving space 113. The surrounding wall 112 has an upper end formed with an annular flange 1120 that defines an opening 114 for access into the receiving space 113.
The conductive terminal 12, which is made of metal, is disposed movably in the receiving space 113. The conductive terminal 12 has a first end portion 122 disposed in the receiving space 113, a second end portion 121 opposite to the first end portion 122 and extending outwardly of the housing 11 through the opening 114, and an intermediate stop portion 123 interconnecting the first and second end portions 122, 121, disposed in the receiving space 113, and in sliding contact with the surrounding wall 112. The conductive terminal 12 is operable so as to move from a released state, where the first end portion 122 of the conductive terminal 12 is spaced apart from the bottom wall 111 of the housing 11, as shown in FIG. 2, to a pressed state, where the first end portion 122 of the conductive terminal 12 is proximate to the bottom wall 111 of the housing 11, as shown in FIG. 3.
The coiled spring 113 is disposed in the receiving space 113, and is mounted between the intermediate stop portion 123 of the conductive terminal 12 and the bottom wall 111 of the housing 11 for biasing the conductive terminal 12 to the released state.
The following are some of the drawbacks of the conventional spring-loaded electrical contact 1:
1. Since the housing 11 and the conductive terminal 12 are required to be machined, fabrication of the conventional spring-loaded electrical contact 1 entails relatively high costs.
2. When the conductive terminal 12 is moved from the pressed state to the released state by the action of the coiled spring 13, the intermediate stop portion 123 bumps against the annular flange 1120, which can lead to wearing of the intermediate stop portion 123 such that stable conduction cannot be ensured.